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TVNZ WINS HIGH COURT APPEAL OVER ARAMOANA STORY

TVNZ says its successful High Court appeal against a decision by
the Broadcasting Standards Authority is an important win for media
freedom.

The High Court decision overturned the BSAs ruling in April that
the use of the word f***ing in TV ONEs Sunday current affairs
programme on Aramoana breached broadcasting standards.

Justice Simon France described the BSAs decision as plainly
wrong, and said it does a disservice to the programme to isolate
this word.

TVNZ successfully argued that viewers had a right to hear the
exact exchange that took place between the Aramoana gunman David
Gray and the policeman who shot him dead.

John Gillespie, TVNZs Editor Current Affairs, says: This is an
important win for media freedom and the right of the New Zealand
public to hear an accurate and complete record of such a
significant event in our history.

The Sunday programme aired on the 20th anniversary of the
massacre and revealed details of the final confrontation between
Police and David Gray, information never before made public. Much
thought and scrutiny went into how Sunday would reveal those
details. The judge vigorously backed up that scrutiny in his
decision.

Were not arguing to relax the rules around strong language on
TV. Context is all important. Our story accurately recounted an
important historical event, which is surely our public duty as
journalists. This case was an obvious exception to the general
rule, and the judge agreed.

It is very heartening to see a very quick, commonsense and clear
decision from the Court, he says.